2007: Music

I'm great, thanks for asking! I should probably post about what I'm doing these days, which is exciting, fulfilling, and (collectively) nicely compensated, but this post is about my top music picks of 2007. I prepared album and singles lists for a poll earlier this month, and thought I'd repost 'em here, along with my lists from last year (which never made their way to this blog).

2007 Albums:

1. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
2. Say Anything - In Defense of the Genre
3. Fall Out Boy - Infinity on High
4. Feist - The Reminder
5. Straylight Run - The Needles, The Space
6. Bright Eyes - Cassadaga
7. Motion City Sondtrack - Even if it Kills Me
8. The Starting Line - Direction
9. Kanye West - Graduation
10. Bishop Allen - The Broken String
11. Maria Taylor - Lynn Teeter Flower
12. LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
13. Ash - Twilight of the Innocents
14. Matthew Good - Hospital Music
15. The Shins - Wincing the Night Away
16. David Ford - Songs for the Road
17. The Rocket Summer - Do You Feel?
18. Jimmy Eat World - Chase This Light
19. Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
20. Manic Street Preachers - Send Away the Tigers

2007 Singles:

1. Spoon - The Underdog
2. Kanye West - Stronger
3. Fall Out Boy - This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race
4. Kanye West - Flashing Lights (ft. Dwele)
5. Justice - D.A.N.C.E.
6. The Shins - Phantom Limb
7. Ash - You Can't Have it All
8. Bright Eyes - Four Winds
9. The Rocket Summer - So Much Love
10. Jimmy Eat World - Big Casino
11. Brand New - Jesus Christ
12. Say Anything - Baby Girl, I'm a Blur
13. LCD Soundsystem - Someone Great
14. Mark Ronson - Oh My God (ft. Lily Allen)
15. Maroon 5 - Makes Me Wonder
16. Sophie Ellis-Bextor - Catch You
17. The Killers - Read My Mind
18. Modest Mouse - Dashboard
19. The Starting Line - Island
20. Kanye West - Can't Tell Me Nothing
21. Coconut Records - West Coast
22. Fall Out Boy - The Take Over, The Break's Over
23. My Chemical Romance - Famous Last Words
24. Feist - My Moon, My Man
25. Kanye West - Good Life (ft. T-Pain)
26. LCD Soundsystem - All My Friends
27. Fall Out Boy - I'm Like a Lawyer with the Way I'm Always Trying to Get You Off (Me & You)
28. Ash - Polaris
29. Fall Out Boy - Thnks fr th Mmrs
30. Lupe Fiasco - Superstar
31. Charlotte Hatherley - Behave
32. Manic Street Preachers - Your Love Alone is Not Enough (ft. Nina Persson)
33. The Color Fred - If I Surrender
34. LCD Soundsystem - North American Scum
35. Mark Ronson - Stop Me (ft. Daniel Merriweather)

A quick look at the lists probably reveals me to be a Spoon fanboy, which really isn't true -- I started listening to the band about 10 weeks ago, spurred by the brilliant "Underdog" video/single, and Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga proved to be one of the most complete and polished records I've heard in ages. Say Anything pretty much had the year locked up, but when it came time to do the list, I had to give it to Spoon. My revised list may change in a few months, but that's what I've got for now.

As far as singles go, I dropped the ball on a couple things (but opted not to revise the initial list). First, Jay-Z's "Roc Boys (And the Winner Is)" would've ranked high on the list if I'd heard it more than once prior to voting, but I never got around to giving American Gangster a solid listen. It's an excellent single -- my bad, Hova. Also, the Paramore singles -- especially "crushcrushcrush" -- deserve a mention, even if the album doesn't deliver start to finish. Finally, "Thnks fr the Mmrs" should've been the second-highest-ranked Fall Out Boy single. Kinda forgot how bouncy the choruses are when I was putting it together. Ah well.

In summation, 2006 >>>>> 2007 for music, but I'm very hopeful for 2008. For reference, here's last year's lists:

2006 Albums:

1. Brand New - The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me
2. The Format - Dog Problems
3. Taking Back Sunday - Louder Now
4. Copeland - Eat, Sleep, Repeat
5. The Killers - Sam's Town
6. The Pipettes - We Are the Pipettes
7. The Early November - The Mother, the Mechanic, and the Path
8. Muse - Black Holes and Revelations
9. Mates of State - Bring it Back
10. Saves the Day - Sound the Alarm
11. John Mayer - Continuum
12. Gatsby's American Dream - Self-titled
13. My Chemical Romance - The Black Parade
14. We Are Scientists - In Love and Squalor
15. Bic Runga - Birds
16. The Hush Sound - Like Vines
17. Be Your Own Pet - Self-titled
18. Forgive Durden - Wonderland
19. David Ford - I Sincerely Apologize for All the Trouble I've Caused
20. Moneen - The Red Tree
21. Lupe Fiasco - Food and Liquor
22. Matchbook Romance - Voices
23. Gil Mantera's Party Dream - Bloodsongs
24. Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
25. Clipse - Hell Hath No Fury
26. Manchester Orchestra - I'm Like a Virgin Losing a Child
27. The Decemberists - The Crane Wife
28. Ben Kweller - Self-titled
29. Morrissey - Ringleader of the Tormentors
30. Girl Talk - Night Ripper

2006 Singles:

1. The Killers - When You Were Young
2. The Pipettes - Pull Shapes
3. Taking Back Sunday – MakeDamnSure
4. My Chemical Romance - Welcome to the Black Parade
5. Muse - Supermassive Black Hole
6. Lupe Fiasco - I Gotcha
7. Justin Timberlake - My Love (ft. T.I.)
8. T.I. - What You Know
9. The Pipettes - Your Kisses Are Wasted on Me
10. Broken Social Scene - 7/4 (Shoreline)
11. Regina Spektor - Fidelity
12. Be Your Own Pet - Adventure
13. Incubus - Anna-Molly
14. Brand New - Sowing Season (Yeah)
15. The All-American Rejects - Move Along
16. Hellogoodbye – Here (In Your Arms)
17. Lupe Fiasco – Kick Push
18. Clipse – Wamp Wamp (What it Do)
19. Beyonce - Check on It
20. Cobra Starship - Snakes on a Plane (Bring It)
21. Gnarls Barkley – Crazy
22. Matchbook Romance – Monsters
23. Lady Sovereign – Love Me or Hate Me
24. Omarion – Ice Box
25. Justin Timberlake – SexyBack
26. The Pipettes – Judy
27. Teddy Geiger - For You I Will (Confidence)
28. Lily Allen – LDN
29. Muse – Knights of Cydonia
30. Yellowcard – Rough Landing, Holly

2007: Games list to follow... at some point. Maybe tomorrow? Meh, no clue.